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A law requiring the state to account for the state's spending to meet the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act will have to wait until next year.
State Assembly members approved A.1191 by an overwhelming 141-5 vote with Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voting in favor of the bill. A companion bill in the state Senate (S.288) was not approved before the end of the state legislative session, meaning the process will begin again in 2024. The bills were unable to get out of legislative committees in both houses in 2022.
Lawmakers want to add a new section to the state Environmental Conservation Law to provide for an annual agency climate expenditure report. The report would account for all spending toward the state's efforts, across agencies and authorities, to meet its stated climate goals. The report would be submitted by Jan. 30 each year and provided to the leaders of each house of the legislature. The report would also include an analysis of how the use of funds help meet requirements for benefitting disadvantaged communities. Initial versions requiring the governor's office to create the report have been amended to require the report be produced by the state DEC and NYSERDA.
"So, in 2019 when we passed the CLCPA we really set some goals out there to ensure we could get to what we needed to do for climate change in our state," said Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, D-New York City. "Then the Climate Action Council came with some more specific things. But the reality is we don't know how we're going to get to those goals … And that's exactly what this bill does. It creates a comprehensive report to ensure that we, step by step, get to our climate goals. If we are making our goals we can see our path along the way. Some of our agencies, we can rectify if they aren't (making their goals) and we can figure out what's going on and we can rectify it. We can't wait for five years or 10 years to get there. We have to act now and this bill helps us ensure that we get there."
A cost-benefit analysis of the CLCPA indicates a cost of between $280 billion to $340 billion to transform New York into a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy with a benefit of between $420 billion and $430 billion. But the Empire Center for New York State Policy has warned repeatedly of potential cost overruns that are common on big, complex projects like the Beacon Island offshore wind project in Albany County.
That project, according to center officials in a March post, was initially supposed to cost $350 million. The Port of Albany has asked for an additional $350 to finish construction and the project could need another $100 million. Such overruns, center officials reason, could drive the CLCPA's total costs up.
James Hanley of the Empire Center wrote in March that if the multiple megaprojects that comprise the CLCPA collectively come in at 50% over-budget, the CLCPA could end up costing between $420 and $510 billion. If total project costs double, the CLCPA could cost between $560 billion and $680 billion.
"I will be supporting this bill because I think it's important we recognize the costs that are being incurred by the state of New York and its agencies implementing the climate action program," Goodell said. "I also agree with my colleague, (Assemblyman Phil) Palmesano that's only a part of the cost. And when we look at the huge costs that some are now facing this next year, over $800,000 to condo and cooperative owners in New York City who are facing millions and millions of dollars in costs, that's not included in this report. We're not looking at the billions of dollars necessary to upgrade our infrastructure. There's a lot of costs that are not included in this report but this certainly will help us understand a piece of the pie. I certainly understand and appreciate the comments of my colleagues that it's an important piece, but only part of the picture."